Q.M. v. Commonwealth

Appellant, who was fifteen years old at the time, was charged with third-degree sexual abuse. Appellant was released from detention on a conditional order of release. The district court ordered that Appellant’s case be “informally adjusted” on the condition that Appellant move out of state to Oklahoma to live with his father. The existing order of release with its conditions was then terminated. Appellant and his mother were forced to comply with the order to avoid formal juvenile prosecution. When Appellant returned to Kentucky with his mother, the district court re-docketed the charges. The trial court eventually removed Appellant from his home and committed him to the Department of Juvenile Justice as a juvenile sexual offender for placement in an “appropriate facility.” The Supreme Court vacated the district court’s adjudication and disposition in this case, holding that the trial court erred when it changed the case from an informal adjustment to formal proceedings because once a case has been determined to be appropriate for an informal adjustment, the case cannot be returned to formal proceedings. View "Q.M. v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law